shenanigans: Wedding Bells and Trumpets

So I went to my first Costa Rican wedding this past weekend! It was pretty awesome!
Guess how long it was.
If you guessed 7 hours, you are right!! Sorry you don't win a prize or anything, but nice job for being a good guesser! And that wasn't a typo. It was for real s-e-v-e-n hours long. The ceremony was a solid two hours followed by a five hour reception. These people do not mess around! The two hour Catholic ceremony was all in Spanish, naturally, so I sat there for 2 hours and had no idea what was going on. I would laugh when people laughed, stood up when they all stood up (there was a lot of standing up and then sitting down going on) and other than that I was kind of off in my own little world...for two hours. Funny thing about the ceremony was that the Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, Bride, and Groom all sat in chairs. I don't blame them. I sure as heck woudn't want to stand for two hours. That is a looong time.

Then the party got started at the reception! The reception might I add was niiice. Beautiful table arrangements. Awesome venue. It was just all around classy... with a hint of pizzaz!

So we got there, mingled for a while at our assigned tables, had a toast with sparkling apple cider (which I forgot was so delicious) and then went through a buffet line to get food. There was salad, mashed potatoes, fish and beef. It was all so good! Like really really good! After we were done eating, we were all served cake. Then...the party really got started! Maga and Mau (the Bride and Groom) kicked it off with their slow dance. About half way through the slow dance the music so casually switched to the song "I like to Move it Move it" and they did in fact move it! It was awe-some, so hilarious, and so unexpected!

After that I got suckered into dancing. Little known fact about me. I don't really looove to dance. I mean, I like it. It's fine. It's whatever. I just don't absolutley loooove it. But like I said I got suckered into it by a 50 year old lady named Sharon from Texas who I had just met. Everyone on the dance floor was salsa dancing, and yeahI know I've been in dance class since I've been here, but I was still nervous/embarrassed and definitely didn't want to go dance. I was for real being peer pressured like woahhh by freaking Sharon. She said "You're a Gringa, you're from the U.S., you have an excuse to be bad." And oldly enough that was enough to convince me! So I made my way out to the dance floor with Uncle John and shook what my momma gave me...in a salsa dancing kind of way!

Here's the impressive part though about the reception. A little while after we had cake, there was an announcement that the chocolate fountain was open! Heck yes! Every good wedding reception needs a chocolate fountain! Am I right or am I right? After the chocolate fountain we all got served coffee. Costa Ricans love their coffee...and so do I. Then after the coffee we were served little scone type things-4 of them. AND then after the scones we were served a different kind of cake. The food just kept coming, and it was incredible! Costa Ricans really know how to do weddings. Oh and I almost forgot,...there was a surprise. A mariachi band came strollin' in...trumpet and all! A freaking mariachi band? Are you kidding me! Sweet! The dancing continued and then all of a sudden it was 5:00pm. Mind you, the wedding started at 10:00am so this was definitely a full day gig.

There you have it! That was my first Costa Rican wedding experience! Here of some pictures from the glorious occasion courtesy of Kate Loyd's camera!